Monday, October 26, 2015

Should Muhyiddin quit UMNO?

Reluctant wannabe no more. What former DPM Muhyiddin Yassin said, about Dr Mahathir Mohamad's offer to him to be Prime Minister after Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was true. He turned Mahathir down - not once but at least twice. Muhyiddin wouldn't double cross his tag-team mate, Najib Razak. He wouldn't take the post of PM for himself. But I wouldn't call him the king maker. They were a tag team.

This was after the March 2008 general elections and Dr M had already openly called his predecessor to step down and take responsibility for the BN's extremely poor showing at the polls. Very few people knew that Najib and Muhyiddin had been working together within the party to effect change, even as Mahathir was screaming for blood from the outside. Together, the two - Najib was Umno deputy president and Muhyiddin the most senior vice president - were starting the moves to get Umno members to put the pressure on Pak Lah to make way for Najib to become the new Umno president and Prime Minister of Malaysia, and Muhyiddin as the deputy, of course. They played the good cop, bad cop game very well.

I wasn't in Najib or Muhyiddin's "inner circle" but I was privy to some of the things done and said by the two during this period. The impression I got was, yes, Muhyiddin did not want the No 1 job. Or did not need it. "It should be Najib," he kept telling us. He may have other reasons (some said he didn't relish the idea of being a Mahathir balachi at all) but he was certainly loyal to Najib and he displayed it. But it wasn't a one-way traffic: as much as Muhyiddin was loyal to Najib, Najib was faithful to Muhyiddin, too, and remained so until Muhyiddin had made it absolutely clear that he was not backing him anymore.

When Mahathir started calling for Najib to quit, we asked the good doctor who he wanted as PM this time. Anyone but Najib, was the answer. Get rid of Najib first, worry about the successor later. So now anyone can be Umno president and PM.

At that point of time, I was quite sure Muhyiddin was not an option (updated: even though Mahathir conceded that Muhyiddin, by convention, should take Najib's place). Why? He had turned down Mahathir not once but twice (at least) so I didn't think the Tun liked that and would ever make him another offer.

But here we are: Muhyiddin has finally accepted the offer by Tun Mahathir to make him the next Prime Minister of Malaysia and president of Umno. He seems unsure and uncomfortable in his new role as Umno rebel, but he's made his choice. He's reluctant no more.

One thing for sure Bru. Muhyiddin won't resign as Umno no. 2 nor would he quits as Umno member the way your boss will never step down as PM on his own and his much beloved finance minister post. Its your boss call to make bro. I know Datuk Zahid is increasingly anxious and worry of being TPM for a long time without being no. 2 in Umno.

When Najib wanted to overthrow Pak Lah Badawi, nobody declared himself as Najib's men either. All this mess could have been averted if Zahid had turned down to be the DPM. Ungentleman. That is what Zahid is. Why should he bypass Muhyiddin and accept that post? Najib was stupid enough to think that he is uniting Umno when Zahid, the vice president is the DPM. He can only unite Umno when he steps down and Muhyiddin Yassin is the PM. Too hard to understand? What one is more important? Rosmah or Umno? Najib or Government? Jho Low or BN? 1MDB or the voters? Only one man can put a stop to this madness --- KEBAB. But he is not functioning.

Salam RB..TSMY will not resign from his Dy. President UMNO post. He was elected to the post. The post wields great influence. He was sacked from his public posts not due to his disloyalty to UMNO but because he does NOT agree with the manner the 1MDB and RM2.6Bill.issues being handled.

DSN will NOT initiate any move to have TSMY sacked. It is political suicide.It will create anti Najib "tsunami".

The strategy by DSN is to prolong the life of his administration till PRU14 latest by 2018.And in the meanwhile, efforts will continue to financially reward those loyal to him.So far, this strategy works wonders.

TSMY should fight from inside. After all who is Najib compared to him in terms of academic qualification and political experience?

UMNO still remains nostalgic about the contribution of his father, the late Tun Abd Razak to the country and hence has immensely contributed to his rise to the top. Now his battle cry is 'cash is king'. But soon he will be rudely awakened from his nightmares that the cash will be transformed into 'money is the root of all evils'.

So Tan Sri, fight on, pursue with preseverance and intensity from inside whilst being guided by Allah the almighty.

Your lead story is a bit uncomfortable for some of TS Muhyiddin's supporters. Why should Muhyiddin quit UMNO? Muyhiddin is one of the longest serving UMNO leader from State to Federal. My take is the political situation in UMNO will be a bit out of the norms of political comradeship. Muhyiddin who is now out of government position but still hold in the Deputy President post is deemed to be on leave from the government. Nobody knows what will happen after this political hickup in UMNO. The next UMNO election if postponed until after PRU14 if it doesn't contravene the party's Constitution. This will reduce serious political struggle for power in the number two slot as a deputy President. Will Zahid capable to unseat Muhyiddin will be left to be seen. There is no added advantage to Zahid, if his position remain status quo as his position as DPM is strictly the prerogative of PM Najib.

cant u just put a stop to all this political movement nonsense discussion and let Najib run the country in peace.all these people asking him to step down yet no one candidate in mind to replace is waiting so much time.we should be focusing on building our beloved country and getting all the rakyat to be good to one another.not widening the hole or gap which is already there.people talk so much but all are irrelevant.god knows how many truths and untruths are spread out there...stop wasting time!!!!

In an ideal world, yes we should all let Najib focus in the running of the country, to lead the government of day in improving our lot. But in a less than ideal world like political Malaysia, that's not going to happen. Dr M has been at it for nearly a year now and he's not about to stop. The Opposition are working harder. They had expected the Old Man to finish Najib much earlier but things look like they are not going that way. Work harder means three new things: 1. Demonize the Budget 2016 2. Downplay the success of the GST 3. Attack the government's position on TPPA

I don't mean to rile Abang Din's camp but let's face it, if Dr M was holding the reins in Umno and the Government now Muhyiddin wouldn't last another day. Ku Li, Musa Hitam, Shahrir Samad, Anwar Ibrahim and all those who disageed with him were shown the door, one way of another. Muhyddin was sacked as DPM because he no longer supported the Boss, which is what a deputy should first and foremost do. As Deputy President of Umno, he's clearly and openly doing the same: he is not assisting or promoting the President. And if he won't, I think it's normal for people to expect that he's ready to either quit that post or once again be sacked. The only question is, which is the better option, the more honourable?

Anonymous Anonymous said...Do recall, TSM could have been the Deputy to Pak Lah if not becos of TDM jumped the gun for Najib.

PISSED CITIZEN

6:38 p.m.

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Apalah kau ni Mo, you got your facts all wrong lah.

Actually, Najib should have been DPM after Anwar Ibrahim. But Tun M denied Najib that natual ascension, made Abdullah Ahmad Badawi his Deputy PM instead.

Reason? Mahathir wanted someone "holy" to replace him when he steps down. And someone loyal.

The Old Man later admitted that it was a big mistake on his part (this was after Pak Lah allegedly tried to destroy his legacy) so he went after Pak Lah with the aim of taking him down. That he did. Since Najib was alerady DPM, Najib went on to become the PM when Pak Lah finally had to step down.

Mahathir tried to deny Najib that post again at this point of time. As Muhyiddin has disclosed just a few days ago, he was offiered the PM's post by Mahathir after the 2008 general election when BN did so badly that Pak Lah had no choice but to go.

I’m sorry to say that TS Muhyiddin has made himself look dishonest, incompetent and stupid.

1. TSMY claims that Arul spoke for only 10-15 minutes. He left out the part where prior to Arul taking the podium, the auditors had presented their report on 1MDB and later there was also a 45-minute Q&A. Meaning the session on 1MDB was not merely 10-15 minutes. Meaning, nobody was avoiding giving clarification and comprehensive answers. Meaning, he had every opportunity to ask about anything that he did not understand or on details he needed to know.

2. TSMY said Ananda Krishnan lent RM2 billion to 1MDB. I don’t think he meant to lie but rather he was ignorant of the arrangement, which was part of the IPP SPA, whereby Tanjong PLC would have to fork out the RM2 billion if the PPA was not renewed. (This was also mentioned in Tanjong’s annual report). No, it was not a loan. No, 1MDB does not owe AK or Tanjong any money.

3. TSMY said he obtained understanding of 1MDB from his son and The Edge. This is stupid because Arul, the auditors and even PM would have been much better sources. Tan Sri Shahrir Samad, who is not even a minister, didn't have a problem having a private session with Arul to get a grip on the issues so TSMY has no excuse.

You Bru have totally missed the point when you try to compare TDM with Najib by mentioning the cases involving Ku Li, Musa and Anwar. Their exit from UMNO were under different circumstances. Be that it may, the issue centered on differences of opinions concerning party's and government's policies and the sodomy charge with regard to Anwar.,Whilst Najib, he is allegedly involved in corruption vis a-vis the so-called RM2.6 bil donation and gross mismanagement of 1MDB that may have led to, amongst other things, money laundering.

In so far as TSMY is concerned, as mentioned by Mustapha Ong, he is one of the most senior leaders in UMNO. Many in UMNO now may not have been born yet, when he first assumed his govt post. He is an UMNO diehard. Not until the case of corruption and the 1MDB scandal surface, he has been fully supportive of Najib on all matters, issues and policies both that of the party and the govt.

So, the question of him quitting does not arise at all. The most honorable thing for him to do is to stay put and pursue his cause from within. Let's see whether Najib has the gut to sack him.

Salam bro Rocky..you may be right but there seems to be a lot of hurdles along the way. Sincerely, I opined that some of the MKT members are fence sitters as they have no guts to voice out their displeasure to their boss Najib that he shouldn't have sacked Muhyiddin without due diligence from the MKT. This has caused some split of opinion and support at the UMNO grass roots level and also put Zahid in a bad light. Zahid's men need to work harder if Zahid is prepared to take on Muhyiddin in the coming UMNO election, if the postponement is approved to be held after PRU14 in 2018.

Fully agree with you. We need not crack our head to know the reasons why.

Another species worth highlighting is Teuku Adnan, UMNO Sec.Gen. He appears to have been given the carte blanche, to say anything and to do anything, the latest threatening to suspend 7 UMNO members/officials whom he could'nt tolerate anymore allegedly for bringing the party into disrepute. Perhaps one of the victims will be TDM.

As you may recall, at the time when he was in political wilderness, it was TDM who made him UMNO's Ex. Sec. It was TDM who recommended him for the senatorship. It was TDM who appointed him as Dep. Minister.